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I think Brainsausage and Mucho summed up my position pretty well. I don't have any opposition to it, but I try to use umami flavors in the background, if that makes any sense. To answer Andrew, as a home cook/occasional caterer I don't use pure MSG...not because I'm opposed in some way as much as I find other ways to get that umami factor. I have no problems with nitrate in charcuterie either. MSG seems to get more hysteria, but it kind of reminds me of when people get upset to learn that their veggies or starches were prepared using duckfat.

I really appreciate the great responses, it seems that there is a camp that is using unrefined products to add umami to a dish, as noted, mushrooms and tomatoes, cured meat. I always add some anchovies to do the same, especially in my Sunday sauce ( don't tell Nona) just enough that you cannot identify it as itself.
I was most curious about the refined MSG products like Accent'.

I buy mine at the Asian market (looks like you are buying bags of drugs) and use it in most of my Chinese dishes.
Was pretty muched raised on it. Worked in a Chinese restaurant as a kid and the chef would scoop the tip of his spatula into some MSG for almost every dish. This was before the "Chinese restaurant syndrome" scare had fully taken effect.

I don't use MSG in powder form, but I always consider putting in an umami layer in almost every dish and/or every sauce. One of the things about umami is that it can be conspicuous in it's absence, but an abundance of it doesn't always make the dish more delicious. I think that's why several people have mentioned it being best as a background or accent flavor.